[A]fter you’ve tried to win over voters by calling them heartless, there’s really nowhere to go but up. . . .
Really? There are no jobs for illegals anywhere in Texas to earn tuition money? . . . This is the same sleight of hand he tried to use in the debate answer that got him in trouble, equating illegals’ opportunity to go to school in Texas with some sort of moral imperative among taxpayers to subsidize their education.

Go back just 10 days — before the Orlando debate, before the Florida straw poll — and remember how Perry was the unstoppable juggernaut, the bandwagon everyone was going to ride to glory.

And now it’s over. Completely and irretrievably over. How over is it? Mitt Romney is mocking Perry as a RINO sellout:

Comments

http://thepagantemple.blogspot.com/ ThePaganTemple

Personally I like the #ThingsMenShouldntTextEachOther

Anonymous

Cain seems well posititioned for a three-way race between him, Romney, and Christie. In that scenario, even more grassroots conservatives would coalesce around Cain, while Romney and Christie would split the establishment types, right-centrists, and lower-information primary voters (who mostly respond to name recognition).

On the other hand, Cain’s chances go down if it is him, Palin, and Romney (and Christie).

http://thepagantemple.blogspot.com/ ThePaganTemple

I just copied the following from Herman Cain’s Facebook status wall post-

I am pleased to announce that I won the Teacon straw poll in Chicago today with over 77% of the votes. Groups were represented from Illinois, Wisconsin, and Michigan. We are gaining momentum

Thats a devastating ad. And whats worse is that Perry keeps talking about it, he seems obsessed with proving he is right. This reveals an amazing level of political tone deafness. I don’t know what to make of it.

Anonymous

I’m taking Christie at his word for the moment. If he’s politely listening to all those pleading with him to save the GOP from the Wingnuts, well that’s smart politics. If he got in he stands less chance than Romney of getting the nomination.

http://twitter.com/CoolChange80 CoolChange

Herman Cain is a jackass with no record. Obama will destroy. Give me Palin any day over a guy with no record.

https://plus.google.com/114041580398058374552/posts McGehee

Go and meet Herman if you get a chance. After five minutes you’ll apologize to him for your comment here.

http://twitter.com/CoolChange80 CoolChange

Talk is cheap and all politicians are full of crap and so is
Herman Cain after seeing him on Leno.We need a proven conservative in office.
I can’t vote Herman Cain, he has no record of voting on governing.
Herman Cain allowed Jay Leno to lie and twist what you said in
order to score cheap political points.Too bad Cain missed the opportunity
to show himself as an ethical and honorable gentleman.Typical cheap political points.

http://pointofagun.blogspot.com/ Dave C

If another “Compassionate Conservative” is elected, it will be the end of the Republican party and Perry is sounding more and more “Compassionate” everyday.

GWB pretty much ran the party into oblivion under is tenure. The only thing that saved the Republican party was the Tea Party.

MrPaulRevere

You need to show the proper respect Jackass.

MrPaulRevere

I’m watching your twitter feed dude, you seem to have some sort of mental obsession with Herman Cain.

MrPaulRevere

I’m starting to think you have mental health issues.

Anonymous

The base will not accept settling any more. Perry appears to be running for office in China cause that’s were he’ll wind up if he don’t quit digging on immigration.

http://profiles.google.com/betoochoa78722 Beto Ochoa

Who the hell does Perry think he’s fooling with his de facto amnesty? A massive number of illegals game the welfare system here for tens of thousands per year apiece. From free hospital care for any medical complaint to free electricity. No requirement for drivers licenses or insurance. Getting food stamps and loaning out children to each other in order to boost assistance checks while driving a forty-thousand dollar truck.
The list of scams is manifold.
And for him to suggest that these people who have significant means are due another leg up is fantastical bullshit.

CO

Perry doesn’t have a clue how to deal with the Mexican problem.
The California and Arizona models are far superior.

Texas is full of problems. It’s the cartel murder and kidnapping capital,
they are always marching in the streets ‘viva la raza’ and ‘atzlan por todos’, charging border crossings in hordes and more.

How he ever thought his Texas model would serve is beyond reason.

http://profiles.yahoo.com/u/EU5DQWQTTHTPO4A4ZYSL3AAV2U Adjoran

Yeah, he’s doing the “Mario Cuomo Lite” act. How the heck could he run with all those denials on tape out there? Besides, if the conservatives were disappointed with Perry (as I said they would be) they really don’t want to know what Christie has been for.

“I’ll see your instate tuition for illegals and raise you support for the Ground Zero mosque. Vaccine policy? Ha! Take this cap-‘n’-tax plan of mine!”

Nah, Perry is just tone-deaf. This stuff is not even controversial in
Texas and he expects the rest of the country to be the same. His
problem is the national learning curve is very steep and unforgiving.
He is in fact to the right of Bush and Romney on most issues, but far
from all and he is no New Conservative Hero. It was silly for his
supporters to introduce him as such.

Cain’s a great guy with an inspiring story, both in business and
personally. Experience in business certainly exceeds in value
corresponding time in government, because in the private sector you
raise revenue voluntarily. Lack of government service isn’t a negative,
although political inexperience has already led to several miscues the
career pols would have avoided.

His weakness is his policy. “999” doesn’t come close to being revenue
neutral unless you use economic projections from Rosie Scenario’s crack
addict brother, and it is only a “stage” in converting to a version of
the Fair Tax, which never added up in any form anyway. It’s Underpants
Gnomonomics, assuming a boom that would fund almost any plan, but still
not raising enough money to balance the budget.

Joe

One does not think “hard core conservative” when discussing New Jersey Republicans. Christie is not running because he knows he will end up like his pal Mike Castle.

http://www.facebook.com/people/John-Hitchcock/100002124988161 John Hitchcock

Rick Perry is a Bell Curve Tenther, being that he’s the Governor of a state, he wants all the power at the top of the State level instead of in We the People’s hands. Once he becomes President (fat chance now), he will then drop all pretenses of being a Tenther at all because he’ll then want all the power at the top of the Federal level where he’s ruler (fat chance now), just as Bell Curve Tenthers are apt to do.

http://www.facebook.com/people/John-Hitchcock/100002124988161 John Hitchcock

I’m a Herman Cain fan, just not a Herman Cain for President fan. I’m a Palinista, and I wish you would quit talking because you’re giving Palinistas a bad image… or is that what you’re trying to do? Moby, by chance?

Onne

Vote for Cain if you want a Muslim free cabinet.

Anonymous

Foreign policy/terror hawks like m’self have had little to get exited about in the wake of Bachmann’s collapse, imo- including Cain, he seems disinterested to me.

I understand candidates steering around such contentious issues, hoping to corral a growing # of non-interventionist libertarians in the process…. but Iran needs to be put up against the wall, and NOW

IF Cain would pick up John Bolton as VP… that’s the sort of thing that could perk this pugnacious nationalist’s interest in a hurry- just sayin

Anonymous

Actually, the immigration issue is very controversial in Texas.

The tuition subsidy was never one that received public debate.

It is an issue that has been swept under the rug. All of the politicians here in TX have been trying to pander to the Hispanic vote. However, I imagine that Perry is done as a Texas politician….he will finish his last term and then retire (he has had an insanely long career already).

http://thepagantemple.blogspot.com/ ThePaganTemple

What choice does he have but to talk about it. At this stage he can’t ignore it, because Romney and the others are going to keep attacking him over it. Frankly, I don’t find his position overall indefensible. Where he hurt himself was with the “don’t have a heart” line.

http://thepagantemple.blogspot.com/ ThePaganTemple

Yeah I’m all for lower taxes, but “9-9-9″ is just too damn low, especially when you’re dealing with a fourteen trillion dollar and growing debt. You would probably have to reduce the federal government by more than 90% to make 9-9-9 work, and that’s just not going to happen under any realistic scenario.

Anonymous

#RockYouLikeAHermanCain

Anonymous

I have yet to see any estimate of what federal revenue would be — using dynamic scoring — under the 9-9-9 plan. But if it prompted a huge economic boom, I doubt the deficit could be *worse* than under Obama’s plan.

Mike Rogers

“Because no Mexican ever said anything nice about him!”
Priceless!
Herman Cain for president for lots of other good reasons, too, like actually having an economic plan that’s easy to sell to the people. How easy? During his closing speech at the Florida straw poll, Cain only had to say “9” once before the entire audience was chanting “9/9/9″!
And THAT is a big reason to elect Herman- he is the one candidate since Reagan who can actually sell his plan to the public.

Tennwriter

And that’s why we need a Socon in charge, because your typical Socon is a nat’l security hawk, and all the other things that define conservatism. He’s the prototype.

But when he gets attacked, the Pure Hawk does not often come to his defense. So y’know, I’d be more interested if you were coming out slamming Planned Parenthood, excessive regulations, too high taxes, and no fault divorce.

Otherwise, you’re just part of a small wing on the big bird.

Anyways, my preference is Palin/Santorum with Cain as SecCommerce and Bolton as SecState and Dave Ramsay as SecTreas and Thomas Sowell as the Fed Reserve Chairman (Bernanke may have a number of years left in his term, but I’d be vocal in my disaproval of him until I drove him to resign.)

Oh, yes, if we do another war soon w/ Iran (and yes, I’m well aware of the good reasons to do so) its going to have to be a true shock and awe occasion (burning and destroying massively with the aim that we get this thing done now.) OR we support the rebels with air power and recognize the rebels if they agree to a short list of non-negotiable demands.

Anonymous

“Too damn low” for what? Since the goal is to reduce the size of federal government by as close to 100% as possible, I’ve no problem with the hit revenues take. My problem with 9-9-9 is it sounds a little too clever for my taste.

http://thepagantemple.blogspot.com/ ThePaganTemple

I don’t think anybody has a goal or even any kind of realistic hope of reducing government by 100%. Ron Paul wouldn’t even go that far. I’d be amazed if you can get a quorum that would agree to a ten percent reduction. And you’re going to need more than that to make 9-9-9 balance out.

I don’t have any doubt it would lead to a big economic boom, and it would be a lot better than Obama’s plan, and for that matter better than any other plan in recent memory, but it would still necessitate deeper and broader government cuts than I think is realistically possible to hope for. Especially with our debt situation. If it weren’t for that it might work out all right, but that fourteen trillion dollars is not going to go away anytime soon. In fact, its not going away until we pay it off.

And remember, with that economic boom is also going to come more inflation, and that’s another thing that’s going to have to change, this insane insistence on keeping interest rates at artificially low levels of near zero percent. It would be better to allow them to rise naturally but put strict limits on how fast and how high they can rise.

And by the way, while we’re discussing all these government cuts, how about we shut down about two-thirds of our foreign military bases, and let these damn people fend for themselves. That would be a big help. Don’t look now, but if we absolutely have to have overseas bases, thirty of them could probably do the job that roughly ninety are doing now.

As for these agencies, assuming you can’t just fire them outright, they need a new job description. It should be “sit at your damn desk. Don’t move. Don’t call anybody. Don’t e-mail anybody. Bring your lunch. And don’t leave until time to go home. It will be a long day so bring a good book. In short, don’t fuck with anything or anybody.”

If we have to pay these damn people we should at least make them do something useful. Which is nothing at all. It wouldn’t cost the taxpayer a cent more for them to do absolutely nothing than it would for them to spend their time terrorizing the population.

With the deficits we have already, the biggest problem isn’t the hypothetical growth down the road, it’s the red ink now that makes the plan a non-starter.

Our economic problems aren’t because our tax rates are too high or the laws too complicated (although they are, and in need of reform). We have a huge surplus of housing (finally down to about six months’ inventory, which approaches normal but doesn’t figure the couple million homes still in some stage of foreclosure, which postpones construction and durable goods orders recovering). Europe is having their own financial meltdown and China cannot conceal their own problems much longer, which lowers demand for our exports.

So without home construction or exports, WHERE does this “boom” come from? Certainly not consumer demand, since unemployment will have to stay high if we are to rid ourselves of the dead weight in federal employees. But the crushing deficits will lead to further credit rating downgrades, higher interest costs, and more pain of our own making.

It’s good to offer specific plans. It’s even better when those plans stand up to scrutiny. “999” is not a serious proposal to anyone with rudimentary math skills or access to a $5 calculator.

http://profiles.yahoo.com/u/EU5DQWQTTHTPO4A4ZYSL3AAV2U Adjoran

Yeah, that’s the ticket – an utterly nonsense “plan” with a catchy hook. “999” even scans to the same chant as “hope and change” now that you mention it.

Yup, what this country needs is a catchy slogan.

rob in katy

I am all for teaching them in grade and high school, immersing them in english only classes, but once they become adults (illegal adults by the way) they can pay their own way though college. if we have that many spare funds, then send an American Citizen to College on a full scholarship, but not an adult illegal!

Anonymous

What’s killing him is the sentiment behind the remark. Perry and his team seem incapable of seeing the connection between Border Security and not giving welfare benefits to Illegals.

Anonymous

We need Bolton at state.

http://twitter.com/CoolChange80 CoolChange

Herman Cain was a willing accomplice to the media’s game of branding republicans as racist. He disgraced himself today.

I thought the issue was they were paying the in-state rate of tuition as opposed to the out-of-state rate an American citizen from outside of Texas might pay. If you get a scholarship, it is usually only because your grades are of sufficient quality to warrant it. Granted, some racial quotas over the last three decades have made a mockery of the scholarship system, but if the scholarships are indeed based on scholastic merit and achievement, I don’t have a problem with it. As for the ones that pay in-state rates, so what? If they live in Texas, why should they pay out-of-state rates? A lot of this crap is just a lot of pissing and moaning over nothing.

http://thecampofthesaints.org Bob Belvedere

Thor Wombat, where art thou?

http://thecampofthesaints.org Bob Belvedere

I’m not so sure after his kow-towing to the Mohammedins.

http://thecampofthesaints.org Bob Belvedere

Great Thor, with your might arm and hammer
You smashed the limbs of Leikn,
You bashed Privaldi;
You knocked down Starkaor;
You trod Gjalp dead under foot
Trample this troll underfoot
For Led Zepplin’s sake!